Audi launches most powerful car ever with F1-matching acceleration
Do you want to experience what it's like to launch off the Formula 1 grid, feel the sensation of speed and power as the landscape turns into a blur?
Well, you have two choices – the first is to become one of the 20 best racing drivers in the world, which takes decades of hard work and millions of dollars. The second option is to buy the new Audi RS e-tron GT Performance.
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2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
This is the new flagship performance vehicle of the German brand's line-up, arriving, quite
fittingly, as Audi prepares to enter F1 in 2026 for the first time. But while the new Audi F1 car will be powered by a hybrid powertrain that will combine petrol and electric power, the new RS e-tron Performance is all-electric.
But don't let that fool you, this is the most powerful production car ever Audi has ever offered in its long history of powerful performance cars. The new hero model of the three-pronged e-tron GT range makes a staggering 680kW of power and 1027Nm of torque in launch mode.
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2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
What does that actually mean, for those who don't speak the language of car nerds?
Well, that's enough power and torque for the RS e-tron GT Performance to launch 0-100km/h in just 2.5 seconds, which is about the same time it takes an F1 car to do so.
Which does help to put its $309,900 (plus on-road costs) price tag into perspective.
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2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
There is a more affordable RS e-tron GT for $264,900 with a slightly more modest 630kW/865Nm, or the $209,900 'entry-level' S e-tron GT with its 500kW/717Nm.
But for those who want the best, then the new 'Performance' version is the only choice. Audi
has pulled out all the stops for this latest model, even raiding the Lamborghini catalogue for
parts. Specifically a new trim Audi calls 'matt carbon camouflage' but was developed for the
Italian supercar brand as 'forged carbon'. It's available as part of a $10,000 optional styling
package that gives the RS e-tron GT Performance a raft of parts made from the unique material, to really make the hero model stand out.
2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
But it's not what you see that makes this car so special, it's the parts below the surface.
As impressive as its acceleration is, it's what's underneath the surface that makes it so great to
drive. Audi has loaded the e-tron GT with the full array of chassis, suspension, steering and
braking technology it has in its arsenal. That means active suspension, all-wheel steering,
carbide-coated brakes (with optional ceramic brakes).
2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
Active suspension is a technology with its roots in F1, back in the late 1980s and early '90s F1 teams worked out how to program their cars to adjust its suspension specifically to each corner, allowing them to corner flatter and faster.
Obviously that's easier on a racetrack where you know which corners are coming up, but it's a lot more complex for the road. That's why the Audi system uses an array of cameras, radars and sensors to 'read' the road ahead of it and adjust the suspension in a fraction of a second to make for a more comfortable ride.
But the truth is, you don't need to understand how it works, just that it does.
The RS e-tron GT is one of the most comfortable performance electric cars this reviewer has ever experienced, and crucially it doesn't come at the expense of sharp, responsive handling. Thanks to the all-wheel steering (that allows the rear wheels to turn the same direction as the front wheels above 80km/h) the e-tron GT changes direction with the precision you'd expect from an F1 car too.
2026 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance. Picture: Supplied
Where the Audi is very much different from an F1 car is inside, where the e-tron GT can take
not only the driver but also four passengers as well. And does so in comfort and style, with Audi once again producing a class-leading cabin with a blend of technology and tradition.
Which sums up the RS e-tron GT Performance quite well overall – a combination of Audi's
traditional values and its latest and greatest electric technology.
Originally published as 2025 Audi e-tron RS GT review
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